Forgiven
by wwgost
Summary: Someone wants Cloud out of the way, leaving his friends to unravel the mystery and teach the people responsible a lesson.  Warnings for violence, language, eventual smut, and Reno.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimers: Not mine, yadda.**

Forgiven

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><p><em>Well I went down to the local coffee store<em>

_The menu went from the ceiling all the way down to the floor_

_Decaf, cappuccino, or latte said the cashier_

_I said gimme a small cup of coffee and let me get the hell up outta here—Keb Mo, Keep it Simple_

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><p>Cloud tried to fix his coffee at the overcrowded condiment bar, not having much success in the matter. At least four people jostled for milk, lowfat milk, cream, flavored non dairy creamer, sugar, raw sugar, a dazzling array of artificial sweeteners, and cocoa powder while he reached for a top to put on his medium coffee, milk and sugar, and napkin to wipe up what he had spilled.<p>

A morning cuppa should not be this fucking complicated.

But the first winter chill in Edge had brought in the madding crowds in their stylish new trenches; the college crowd trying painfully to be unique in identical hip length jackets, scarves, and berets; the well heeled housewives in fur trimmed wool coats. Only three stood out to his observant eye: himself, a tall dark-haired man in a worn floor-length duster, dark glasses, and gloves at the counter, and a bleary eyed wino in a tattered cloth jacket who had been trying to steal creamers from the to-go stand while Cloud was closing up his coffee. It was the wino who caught his attention now, with the jerky movements of a man in withdrawal.

Not withdrawal. Scared. About to do something he is scared to do. Cloud had seen too many battles, too many people do stupid things for stupid reasons, not to know that look. He instictively went to the knife hidden in his belt a half second too late as the wino put his own switchblade against his throat.

"Comin' with me, now, aren't ya? Some hero of the planet you lookin now. Ya jest comin' with old Jake now. Yah. Just comin' on out the door like they told me to do. Jest-"

Jake's words were cut off with a roaring boom as the man at the counter threw off his coat and glasses in one motion, and shot him straight through the window, cleanly missing every other patron in the shop.

* * *

><p>"That was subtle."<p>

"Subtle will get you killed. Here." Vincent re-holstered Cerberus under his duster and handed Cloud a stack of napkins he had picked up from the counter.

"You remembered napkins?" Cloud was floored. He usually forgot them when he _wasn't_ being kidnapped.

"You'd have preferred those little flavored creamer thingies? You missed a spot. Oh, here, I'll do it." He reached over and cleaned the blood off his friend's neck and went back to drinking his coffee. Cloud wordlessly drank his, since Vincent had been nice enough to pick it up off the table on his way out.

"Why are we going into the ShinRa building?" Vincent once again horrified the receptionist, this time by tossing the stack of bloody napkins in her wastebasket.

"Because that was their coffee shop I shot up. Oh hell, Rufus loves me enough already. I figure we might as well hang out in the lobby until his minions call." He propped his feet up on the table. "Don't look at me like that. Someone was trying to kidnap you. You heard what he said. We are here to make a report to the proper authorities for an incident occurring on their lawfully held property. Now, I'm going to wash the cordite off my hands so I can eat my breakfast muffin; it could be hours before these yahoos pull the monkey brains out of their asses."

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><p>It was less than ten minutes. Cloud was still vaguely in shock while Vincent ate the remainder of his muffin out of the wrapper, tossing the trash into the President's wastebasket much the same as he had the napkins earlier. That was Vincent for you; even litter could make a statement, if need be.<p>

"Really, Valentine, did you need to kill him? And you broke a very expensive window."

"He had a knife at Cloud's throat, and was making every attempt to kidnap him. Yes, I felt deadly force was called for. Send me a bill for the window." He sucked a crumb out from under his fingernail, and glared.

"If he were alive, we could…interrogate him."

"If he hadn't held a knife to my friend's throat, he would be alive."

Tseng could see this was going nowhere. "I believe we have enough footage from the shop's security cameras to go over. I'll have Elena start on it immediately. Vincent, Cloud, please make a full statement to Reno and Rude. I'll set up an interview room for you. Sir, we'll let you know when we find out anything." _Until then, please don't pester me or my people for "updates."_

Down in the interview rooms, Reno pulled Cloud aside. "Are you all right? Really all right, not that 'I'm fine' bullshit, all right." Rude and Vincent shared a look.

"I do not do that….Rude, do I do that?"

Rude's only comment was a sudden fascination with his tie. Cloud rolled his eyes and gave a tiny smile. "I think so. I was still mentally working on escape when Vin blew his head off and it was a moot point after that."

Reno pulled him into a tight hug, just out of range of the interview cameras. Over Cloud's shoulder he mouthed to Vincent, "Thank you."

Vincent only nodded. He was, really, only too happy to help.

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><p>Reno took Vincent's statement, thinking he would be able to handle it more clinically than hearing it from Cloud's point of view. Nearly an hour—and a period of becoming reacquainted with his breakfast—later, he had to admit he was wrong. When the statement was entered into the record he looked up to Vincent, shaken, and admitted, "I am not sure I should be on this case."<p>

"I am. Wrath is a very good tool. You will find the people behind this because you want to. And you, Reno, will make them suffer."

"Most people would have an issue with that." Reno was used to the judgment of others, the value system of those who were not accustomed to getting paid for murder and mayhem. Hell, Vincent did it on a volunteer basis now, it seemed. He remembered his calm expression while slitting the throat of a man who had dared try to take Rude's life. He might as well have been doing laundry.

Vincent tilted his head to the side. "Most people. We have seen enough not to be _most people_. Am I right?"

He couldn't argue with the man.

* * *

><p>"Are you sure you want to see this? Either of you?"<p>

"Elena. Rude and I are on this case. We are supposed to be finding out who attempted a kidnapping on ShinRa property." It was a thin excuse and they all knew it. Rufus was sucking up to Cloud and trying to prove to the public that ShinRa could keep the peace, such as it was. And avenge the breaking of his precious window, most likely. But if it afforded Reno his revenge, they would all go with it.

She cued the recording and Reno's soul went cold.

_We have seen enough not to be most people._

He thought that was true, before that moment, but the sight of a knife at Cloud's throat did things to him that a lifetime of ShinRa indoctrination had not.

He would kill them. He would kill them all if he had to tear up every square inch of the streets beneath his feet to find him, he would kill them. In the meantime, he would pull it together, become the sharpest profiler and investigator the Turks had ever known, but when that was done….

"Partner?"

"I'm good. Let's crack this thing."


	2. Chapter 2

Forgiven 2

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><p><em>Catch me as I fall<br>Say you're here and it's all over now  
>Speaking to the atmosphere<br>No one's here and I fall into myself—Evanescence, Whisper_

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><p>The hot water washed out some of the tension in his neck as he poured about a gallon of conditioner on his waist length hair. If he didn't, the humidity would have it out like a wirebrush by noon the next day. He stood under the spray and let it rinse out. He did his best thinking in the shower.<p>

Which should explain his water bill, if nothing else. Okay, a few other shower activities might contribute, but right now he was thinking.

_Like they said._ No, that wasn't it. _Like they told me to do. Comin' out the door, like they told me to do._

_They_, who?

Who wanted Cloud, and why? He twisted his hair into a long red rope and gave it one last good rinse and cut off the water.

Who hired a wino to do their work? Pros hired, well, pros. Gods knew, Reno had hired, and been hired, plenty of times to know that. Quick. Invisible. Walk up next to your target, mention imagined (if low priority) or real (if actually important) snipers on nearby roofs, a whispered "Get in the car, now, and no one gets hurt." It was a lie of course, but hope made them believe it.

This was messy.

Professionals were neat, precise, efficient.

So they were dealing with amateurs.

Who?

He'd think about it after supper. The chili smelled good and being pissed off made him hungry.

Reno moved the stack of mail and filled his bowl. While it cooled, he flipped through the usual bills, junk mail, sales flyers. "What's this, babe?" He held up a meeting announcement.

Cloud looked at it. "Oh, something Tifa and I have been working on with Reeve. It's a foundation to destroy condemned buildings and put in parks, day shelters, recreation centers, that kind of thing. As usual, it's a great idea being dragged down by the tedium of meetings."

"No good deed goes unpunished," he chuckled. He dragged the garlic toast through the thick red sauce. Weather like this was made for chili. He looked across at Cloud and thanked Vincent again, silently, for being the hair trigger, cold blooded bastard that he could be when needed.

He reached over and stroked Cloud's face. There wasn't a mark on him. Not even a powder burn. Damn, Vincent was good. "I would have loved to have seen the look on my face when the call came in. Rude's was priceless."

"What did they say?"

"Only that the two of you were involved in a shooting at the corner coffee shop and had just walked out of the place. Well, the gunman was tall with long dark hair and the hostage appeared to be Cloud Strife. Rude just looked at me like, it's them, and rubbed his forehead. Like, we can't even let them go out to get coffee anymore. Then it sunk in, what had happened and we sat there in Rufus' office trying not to scream or vomit or anything until you two showed up."

"Ironic. We were actually downstairs the whole time, waiting on the secretary to call us. I keep waiting on life to get normal and then I realize, this is normal."

"Good." Reno cleared the table and put the dishes in the sink, which Cloud started to fill with soapy water. Cloud Strife was the only person he had ever met who liked doing dishes; he claimed the repetitive motion relaxed him.

Whatever. Looking at a shirtless Cloud, washing dishes, didn't exactly relax Reno but it did take his mind off a pretty hellish day. It wouldn't be the first time the plates had been left to soak overnight while his baser instincts got the better of him, he thought with a grin.

"Wash those later."

"Hmmm?"

"I said, wash those later." Reno slipped up behind him, kissing him behind his ear and stroking him down his side, his waist, finally slipping his hand beneath the elastic waistband of his flannel pants to lazily caress the growing hardness he found there. "I want you." His other hand came up to Cloud's chest to pull him back as he kissed harder, along his neck, the side of his face. Cloud turned to meet his open mouth.

"The dishes," Cloud murmured around Reno's tongue, "can definitely wait."

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><p>Reno wasn't going to pretend this sudden bout of horniness, so distinguishable from all his other bouts of horniness of course, wasn't at least partly fueled by the horror of seeing the recording of Cloud's attack. Hell, it wasn't as if the man's life hadn't ever been in danger before. He had tried to kill him on more than one occasion, himself.<p>

Okay, so he hadn't really tried that hard. Details.

Things were different now. Before he might have wondered what Cloud would feel like in his arms. Now he knew. Before, he might have wondered what it would be like to wake up next to the blond swordsman.

Now he literally could not imagine what it would be like if he didn't. The thought was a scraping sensation under his ribs; for a moment he fought to breathe, and held Cloud a little tighter. Callused hands in his hair brought him back to the here and now and he let himself be pulled down into a hard kiss, Cloud's tongue warring with his own for dominance, a fight he was only too happy to lose in the end.

Cloud walked him backwards to the bed and gently pushed him down, stopping only to strip off his own pants before attempting to push Reno back onto the bed. Reno stopped him; sitting on the bed, he stared directly into a standing Cloud's erection and the sight was too tempting to pass up. He drew the tip into his mouth, tasting the musky saltiness of him, breathing in the scent of him. He was all hard velvet and Reno sucked in the whole of him, gently, slowly, finally glancing up at Cloud's slack face. He let him go with a quiet wet _pop_ and scooted back on the bed.

Cloud blinked over eyes hooded with lust. "Reno."

"What?" Reno tried to sound innocent. It didn't work so he smiled and drew Cloud up to him for a kiss, let him taste himself in his mouth. Then, suddenly, their hands were everywhere, feeling, grasping. Reno broke the kiss to whisper, "Ride me, babe. Surround me. I need to feel you all around me." Cloud nodded. He pressed lubed fingers up into himself, knowing Reno found the sight erotic, and then used his slicked hand to give his lover what would have been a damned great hand job if Reno hadn't stopped him.

"Gods! Stop…that….maybe later."

"Sorry." He didn't look it, though. He crawled on top and kissed, slowly and torturously kissed his way down Reno's chest to his stomach before rising and then lowering himself onto his painfully hard cock. Reno lay mesmerized by the combination of the emotions crossing Cloud's face and the sensations running through his own body. It was everything he had needed, everything he had wanted. Cloud placed one hand in the center of his chest and began to thrust down on him.

Gods, it was good. It was so damn good. It always was. He fought back a smile as he saw Cloud adjusting his position a little—if asked, he doubted the man even knew he was doing it—trying to find just the right angle, and the little mewling a_h_ that escaped him when he did. Reno reached for Cloud's shaft and began to stroke it, slowly at first.

"No."

"Yes. I want to see you come."

"Not ye…_oh_." It was too much for Cloud, who came all over Reno's hand and stomach. In turn, it was too much for Reno, who groaned out his release inside Cloud, the sight and feeling of his lover's peak always bringing him to his own. Cloud lay down on top of him, slowly catching his breath while Reno traced slow, lazy circles on his damp back.

* * *

><p>Tseng sat on an empty cadaver table and glared at Vincent. "No food and drinks in the morgue. Possible contamination of evidence." The gunman drank down his coffee in one long gulp and tossed the cup.<p>

"Where'd you get that? The shop back open?" Rude sounded more disappointed that he hadn't gotten a cup than anything else.

"Went to the one by the condo." That earned him another glare.

"If we are done. Gentlemen. And Elena." The glares and sighs settled down; no one was taking the temporary loss of their regular coffee shop very well. "The deceased is a Jacob Britton, late of no particular address though he was recently known to panhandle the area around Sector Five."

"Rather off his beaten path."

"Yes. Other than that, there really is nothing of interest. He is in his mid fifties, showing signs if cirrhosis of the liver, emphysema, stomach irritation, and various other health issues one might associate with a life of homelessness combined with heavy drinking and cigarette smoking. Reno, please don't light that in here."

"Sorry boss. Little on edge here. Don't like bodies, yo." Everyone looked at him incredulously. "Uh, I leave them after I kill them, if anyone hasn't noticed."

"Well, we're done here anyway, so why don't you pick up a coffee order from the nearest shop Vincent hasn't destroyed? Elena, take this back and see if it helps your investigation. Valentine, Rude, I want to go over these statements and the footage in detail."

They had just finished going over the tape when Reno came back with a tray of coffee and muffins. "So I was in the shower last night."

"Reno, is this one of those stories I am going to regret hearing?"

"No, Boss. I think in the shower. It pisses Cloud off because I use up all the hot water, but it works. Listen. Obviously, this is an amateur job. We've kidnapped enough people ourselves, or hired it out, to know this isn't how you do it. You don't hire a shaky wino with DTs to snatch the planet's fucking hero out of Starfucks and have a shitfit while he's doing it, and take long enough on the security footage for me to walk four blocks for coffee while the bunch of you watch.

"And now we find out it's some old, out of shape, homeless fart with shitty lungs and a kicked liver? I've drunk dragged Strife out of every bar on this continent, and he's no lightweight. So they couldn't have been going far. I'm thinking a car; no one hiring that dude can afford digs in this sector.

"Britton had been spotted panhandling around Sector Five. Anyone see him get into a car?"

Everyone took a breath, as though they were the ones that needed to come up for air after Reno's monologue.

Tseng pulled a twenty gil note out of his pocket. "That's for your water bill. Someone get down to Sector Five."


	3. Chapter 3

_I am not afraid to keep on living,  
>I am not afraid to walk this world alone<br>Honey, if you stay I'll be forgiven  
>Nothing you can say can stop me going home—My Chemical Romance, Famous Last Words<em>

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><p>Reno and Rude pulled up a discreet distance from the sector. "Ya think I should get something for Vincent? For shooting the fucker that was gonna kidnap Cloud. Not sure what the etiquette is for that. Fruit basket, you think? Wine?"<p>

"Gun of the month club might be nice," cracked Rude.

"Mmm hmm." Reno thought a minute. "I suppose we're walking so we don't attract attention?"

"Mmm."

"Yeah, Rude, because these suits? Really blend, yo."

"A car would stand out even more, and earlier."

Reno looked across the block. "Yeah. I see what you mean." He pointed to an older navy blue sedan, nothing fancy, something a lower income laborer would drive. But still far too clean and reliable for the neighborhood. _Hell, anything not up on blocks was too much for this neighborhood._

Far too clean and reliable to be driven around with a window shot out, too. "Rude? You download that security footage on your phone, by any chance?" Rude kept close watch while Reno fast forwarded through the video and zoomed in behind Cloud's head, out the now defunct window, and saw it. He'd been too distracted to note it before, but just as the car stood out now because of its niceness, it stood out in the neighborhood around the ShinRa building because of its age and wear.

"I think it's time to interrogate the locals, partner." Rude's lips turned up a little and he tightened his gloves. It had been a while since he got some exercise.

After the fourth person who hadn't seen the owner of the car and didn't know how it got there, Reno and Rude had gotten persuasive. And people had started talking. After all, unconscious bodies stacking up tend to attract attention, even in the slums. Reno took the lead up the stairs of a building in such horrible condition, Rude commented that he wasn't sure the floors would hold both their weight.

"Yah, even I never lived in a place this shitty. Well, when I lived anywhere at all. Wasn't so hot at being what you call…stationary…as a kid."

"You grew out of it, obviously."

Reno knew sarcasm when he heard it; Cloud had trained him well. "I have a short attention span, sue me. But yeah, even here, no way in hell this place shouldn't have been condemned. You seen a fire extinguisher? Me either. No sprinkler systems, and I'd have to check with your boyfriend on this but I'm pretty sure the architecture is new enough not to be grandfathered in.

"Need a window."

"Why?"

"Every old building we look at, Vin says something about window moldings. Apparently it's an easy way to date a building, hell if I know." They found a window and Rude snapped a picture. "Now we just hope he has his phone on, or not on silent, or didn't step on it, or throw it off a cliff because Cid gave the number to Yuffie, or drop it in the shitter or something. He still has issues." It only took a few minutes, during which Reno also noticed that said window was nailed shut, trapping them the sewer-like smell of the old place.

_Add below-code plumbing and lack of fire escape to the list._

"Yep. Definitely new enough to be up to fire code. He narrowed it down to within three years."

"All on a picture of a windowsill?"

"Welcome to my life."

* * *

><p>In the midst of a discussion on how to best clear the building, a deafening alarm went off. Rude's glare could be felt through his sunglasses.<p>

"No sprinkler system, yo. How was I to know the fire alarm still worked? I was just thinking it would be a kickass way to get people out of their apartments and I poked it with my EMR, pissed because it would never work…" Apparently the threat of fire in the poorly constructed building was real enough, the residents were indeed leaving. Including two men who, to their trained eye, used to spotting criminals and other nasty people, simply did not fit in.

"Rude?"

"On it."

"But the building may be on fire!" One of the men protested, when Rude ushered them back into what was obviously an office.

"You're on the first floor. Crawl out a window if it gets too hot." Rude's sympathy was thin.

Reno's was thinner. "Neither of you gentlemen would happen to know anything about a bum named Jake Britton that tried to kidnap Cloud Strife, would you? I'm just a little curious."

The man in front of Reno gave him a cocky look. "Can't be bothered to know the name of every loser on the street. Why should I care?"

"Because you have a key to this office. Because there is a car outside this building that was parked just feet from where Strife was nearly kidnapped. Because Britton was seen here and then he was seen with a knife to Strife's throat, and I didn't like the way it looked. Because things keep leading me here, and I don't like coincidences. And I don't like you. So start talkin'" He switched on his EMR and glanced over his shoulder at Rude, who had just finished beating the building manager's apparent assistant into a mess of bloody rags.

"Partner? You mind checking the building to make sure all the residents got out all right? I have a little work to do with our friend here."

Rude nodded silently. He was nothing if not efficient in his work. Reno turned back to the manager. "See him? That is my partner. His job is to hurt and kill people. And let me tell you, he is really, really into his work. But you? You're mine. I think you paid someone to hurt a man that means a lot to me. And me? I'm pretty good at hurting and killing people too. And you are going to die. It's just a question of how long it's gonna take me to kill you, and how bad it's gonna hurt. Now, my partner? He's what you might call a pain specialist. If you really piss me off, we can wait till he gets back and make this a team effort. If you're a good boy, and tell me what I want to know, I might let you go easy. Do we have a deal?"

Something in the deranged insanity of Reno's eyes must have convinced the man.

"I…I paid the wino to grab Strife. He and some woman, couple of do-gooders, tryin' to raise money to demolish this place and make a park or some shit. Where's a man like me gonna make money off a park? Was just gonna shake him up some, scare him, yanno. Make him tear down someone else's building."

Reno laughed without mirth. "Cloud Strife, well, never mind what he's done. You wouldn't get it. Let's just say, I don't think you'd impress him much."

"Still, wasn't gonna hurt him too bad!"

It was the wrong thing to say. Reno jammed the EMR into the side of the man's neck, kept it on until he stopped twitching. And then beat him with it until Rude returned and caught him in a hold from behind.

"He's dead." The blood soaked him to the wrist and he was gasping for breath. "We need to leave."

"Sorry, got carried away."

"You all right?"

"Will be." Rude caught him by the arm, gave him a hard look. Satisfied his partner had his rage under control, he squeezed his shoulder in a gesture of support and they walked out of the building.

Two steps outside, they were met by Vincent and Cloud. "It's not his," Rude said before Cloud could have an angst-fit over the blood. Vincent went back to the bike for a towel.

"How did you find us?" Reno asked, tossing the towel back into the doorway of the building. Bludgeoning didn't rattle him for long; he'd had a lot of practice.

"We recognized the car from the crime scene video, and then the windows from the picture Rude sent for Vin to date the building. I still don't see how he does that, but it worked. We were just about to start looking for you when we saw Rude herding people out the door and guessed that was it. Need any help?"

"Maybe. We were going to make sure it stays unlivable. But first, these people need a place to live afterward."

Cloud pulled out his cell. "Reeve? Yeah, we have a situation. No…none of us are hurt but, hang on. Reno, how many bodies?" Reeve's screech could be heard through the phone. "Oh, keep your shirt on. He says they only killed two, but we have some people that need to be relocated in a hurry. Twenty? Twenty-five? Sure." He closed the phone. "He's on his way, not happy about the bodies."

"May the gods save us from engineers, or at least grant them a grain of common sense. Are you sure everyone is out?" Vincent smiled.

"Yes."

"Good. Rude, damage it. Badly."

* * *

><p>"And once again, I send the Turks out to interrogate and investigate, and what do I get? Destroyed property and dead civilians." Reno winced. His and Rude's parting gift of a bomb, "just a little one," to make sure another entrepreneur didn't take over the building, apparently hadn't gone over well.<p>

"A condemned sector five tenement, still under the operation of the slum lord that was one of the, oh, how did you put it, civilians, is not what I would call property damage. Cleanup, perhaps. Also, Sir, you did not send the Turks anywhere. I did. Had we been waiting on your orders, the perpetrators of Strife's attempted kidnapping, not to mention those operating a fairly extensive illegal property and drug ring, would most certainly still be at large." Vincent's eyebrows rose. Apparently it did not do to insult Tseng's Turks while the man was present. He propped his feet up on Rufus' desk and settled down to enjoy the show.

"Do you mind, Valentine?"

"Not at all." He didn't move.

"I'm serious. That desk is a priceless antique and it took a professional restorer to remove the blood you got on it last year. It's not enough you destroy a window worth thousands of dollars…"

No one saw him move. In less time than it took to blink, he stood and grasped Rufus by the collar, pressing him upward against the panoramic window of his own office. "Rufus. That blood belongs to someone for whom I care a great deal, who is alive no thanks to you, and I hope you got splinters trying to get it out yourself. I hope they got infected. That window was broken saving my friend, another life for which you show no regard. I suppose the innocent souls living in that tenement, being used by criminals sent rather justly to their reward, by men who work thanklessly under your technical command, should expect no more? No. It disappoints me, all the same. You are an empty shroud, Rufus. Held up by those around you. I will never raise a hand to harm you, but may the gods be standing by on the day I am asked to protect you."

He turned to leave, then stopped. "I fear who would take your place. That, and only that, is why I did not just break another window."

And he was gone.

"Of all the disrespect…" Rufus made a great show of straightening his lapels, which in fact Vincent had not touched. "I expect the man will still work with us from time to time, but do keep me from his distasteful presence."

Tseng was silent as well, as he left the Presidential suite.

* * *

><p>"This is fucked up, yo."<p>

"You mean, killing a wino that tried to kidnap Cloud, a dude who was just trying to make enough money get his family out of an illegal tenement, which led us to the people running the scam, that we killed anyway?" Vincent had his hair pulled back in a bandana, biker style, and was wearing a short jacket over his boots and jeans. He had obviously just ridden in and was waiting on Rude to finish the never ending paperwork that was generated by killing someone as part of his job.

Sometimes freelancing had its appeal.

"Yeah." Reno drank some more of his whiskey. "I mean, it's got some symmetry to it, but at the same time…I wanted to murder everyone who had anything to do with laying a hand on Cloud. But…"

"Now that you've done it, it was less fun than you thought it would be?"

"You know how it feels?"

"No, not really. I always looked at murder as an unpleasant but sometimes satisfying necessity. Perhaps what you need, less than forgiveness, is a simple paradigm shift."

The two men were silent for a while. The older Reno got, the more he thought about the things he did. And the more hard liquor made him morose. It wasn't a good combination.

"Reno, you can worry about this right now, or you can realize you have better things to do. Sometimes forgiveness is a matter of priorities. I may, someday, forgive Rufus for being a world class asshole, but it's probably not going to be tonight. Tonight, I'm taking Rude out to the wine bar and I think we'll get a couple steaks and maybe something off the tapa menu. And that's as far as I've thought."

"What about me?"

"Order Taco Mac. They deliver." Vincent saw Rude walking down the street toward the bar, and got up to join him for the ride home.

* * *

><p>AN: Thanks to Mako Headrush for the technical support and dialogue help.

I have always wanted to blow up a Starbucks but since that is illegal, I made a character do it for me.

And you can indeed date a building through window moldings. I did it all the way through New Orleans once before my husband told me to shut the hell up.

I love VincentRage.

And this all started because one of my students was playing a damned My Chemical Romance song and it got stuck in my head. If you hated the story, the student's name is Amber. Blame her.


End file.
